N'yte'wngr
by BlatantBookworm
Summary: 'How Long is Forever' verse. RobStar. How Nightwing picked his name. ""There is a small creature on my planet that looks very similar to the 'robin'." Starfire had said before she left. "N'yte'wngr.""


_**N'yte'wngr**_

**I'll be honest. I didn't like _How Long is Forever_. Despite the awesome RobStar, it was a sad episode. But I did have an idea for it, and they did need sad episodes every once in a while to balance it out.**

**Yes, I am aware that in the comics Dick Grayson changed his name to Nightwing. No, I don't know why. No, I am not particularly curious as to why he picked it in the comics. This is _my_ idea, and the Teen Titans might have been based on the comics but they aren't the comics. **

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Teen Titans, they would still be making episodes, Kid Flash and Jinx would have had more than just one episode, BB/Rae would be hinted _way _more strongly and there would be a LOT more RobStar. Since that hasn't happened (yet! I have not given up hope!) I guess it means I don't own them.**

* * *

"What type of bird is that?" Starfire asked curiously.

Robin looked over at the alien princess.

The five titans were in the woods, on a much needed break. Robin had apparently been 'obsessing' over Slade too much, and the rest of the team came up with the opinion he needed a change of scenery.

"Where?"

"There. In the tree." Starfire pointed.

Robin moved over, and a smile crossed his face as he looked at the small red-breasted bird. "It's a robin."

Starfire looked at him curiously. "But…"

"I named myself after it." He told her.

Behind them, Raven was quietly reading her book. Cyborg and Beast Boy were having an argument over the picnic they'd brought – the same basic 'meat is murder/tofu kills' (Cyborg tended to be melodramatic when it came to these arguments) with added picnic basket. Starfire and Robin barely noticed it.

"Why?"

"Because…" Robin shuffled uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck. "My mother used to call me 'her little robin'. So when I needed a codename…"

"I understand." Starfire gave him a smile. She didn't press him about his real name. She knew he would tell her when he was ready, if that ever came. She didn't really care either – he was simply Robin, and that was good enough for her.

Starfire flew up to the tree slowly, so she could look better at it. She got surprisingly close before the robin took fright and flew away.

The Tamaranean girl landed again. "There is a small creature on my planet that looks very similar to the 'robin'." She said absently, looking after it in the sky.

"Really?"

"Really. But it is blue where the robin is red, and it's wings are a deep black."

"Oh." Robin smiled casually.

"We got lunch ready!" Cyborg shouted at them.

"And it's murder!"

"Well I ain't eatin' tofu!"

"And _I'm_ not eating meat!"

"Then why don't both of you simply eat what _you_ brought instead of wasting time and energy arguing?" Raven drawled.

"Because I can smell that tofu!"

"And I can smell his murder he calls lunch!"

"We'd better go break them up." Robin said, rolling his eyes behind his mask.

"Okay then… _N'yte'wngr._" Starfire gave him a cheeky smile.

"Come again?"

"That is the name of the creature similar to a robin. _N'yte'wngr_."

Robin grinned. "Well, I think I'll stick with Robin instead, thanks."

Starfire shrugged. "If you wish."

And that was all they'd really said on the matter.

* * *

_She's gone… she's gone… she's gone…_

Robin kicked the wall. He winced when he saw that he'd made a hole.

He didn't like this apartment… but Titans tower was full of memories. Memories of _her_… and Raven, too, for that matter, before she'd lost her mind. He didn't know how Cyborg stood it.

Robin sat down on the creaky bed with a groan. The out-dated television flickered with the report on Beast Boy fighting a killer robot by himself. The Boy Wonder hoped that the whole 'solo' thing worked out for him.

_She's gone…_

With a growl Robin walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.

Black hair, no longer spiked up, fell around his mask. His red uniform was looking messy and…

_I need a new costume_.

Robin hesitated as he stopped, his train of thought derailed. Absently he walked back to the bed.

A new costume? Well, the whole 'Boy Wonder' thing was getting over-used. There'd even been rumours that Batman had taken in _another_ Robin.

Robin was surprisingly nonchalant about his mentor replacing him. After all, he'd ended up in a new team less than a month after leaving Gotham. No, it was the fact that the new guy – if he existed – stole his name.

But… it was always Batman and Robin, wasn't it? 'Robin' by himself just didn't seem right… Batman could be solo, but Robin was always part of a team. And there was no way he could get a new team.

Teams broke up, teams got hurt. He wouldn't survive it if _another_ family was destroyed.

So. He needed a new costume, and a new name.

Robin gently took his mask off and looked at it.

His name couldn't have anything to do with his real name. Dick Grayson didn't exist anymore. Besides, Bruce Wayne still did, and he didn't want to risk getting his mentor into danger.

The boy who was formerly Robin dropped his mask and sat against the wall.

A new name… maybe something that still kept his mother's nickname in some form? Robi– the boy almost laughed. What else could he be? Sparrow?

"_There is a small creature on my planet that looks very similar to the 'robin'."_

"_Okay then… N'yte'wngr."_

"_Come again?"_

"_That is the name of the creature similar to a robin. N'yte'wngr."_

"_Well, I think I'll stick with Robin instead, thanks." _

"N'yte'wngr." He said aloud, testing it.

He picked up a pen and paper and wrote the word down, frowning.

There was no way that everyone would get it, of course, but…

He took out the two apostrophes, then drew a line through the 'y' and replaced it with an 'i'. He took out the 'r' at the end and added another 'i' between the 'w' and the 'n'.

_Nitewing._

Biting his lip, ex-Robin scribbled out 'nite' and replaced it with 'night'.

_Nightwing_.

Nightwing… it had potential. It was keeping alive both the memories of his mother and Starfire – no, Starfire was still alive she just wasn't _here_ and she wasn't coming back but she was alive – and it wasn't ruining his secret identity.

Ro– the boy flipped to a new page and began to sketch a new costume. After all, _Robin_ might have been colourful, but Nightwing couldn't be.

The bright, cheerful kid who picked out the costume had already started disappearing after leaving Gotham. Starfire had taken the rest of him when she'd left.

"…_it is blue where the robin is red, and it's wings are a deep black."_

The Boy Wond– the boy sketched a picture. Black mainly, with a blue bird on the chest. A long cape… should he keep the cape? There would definitely have to be a mask, same as ever…

The nameless boy gave a slow smile. He changed into his civilian clothes, picked up his wallet, and went out to shop for materials.

* * *

"Just an illusion… just an illusion…"

"No, Rae… it isn't." Beast Boy said, his voice full of pain as he looked at the girl. She was sitting on the couch blankly.

"It's just an illusion… I'm not really here…"

"Really hurts to see her, doesn't it?" Cyborg said softly.

"Yeah. It does." Beast Boy said, taking Raven's hand.

It was the anniversary of the day Starfire had come to earth in the first place. The former Titans gathered together.

Raven had apparently been lucid enough to remember the day and to come to the tower, but she was going fuzzy again.

"Reckon Rob'll make it?" Cyborg asked, placing a comforting hand on Raven's shoulder.

"I don't know." Beast Boy said honestly. "It hit him hard."

"It's only been four months." Cyborg continued. "Maybe he's not ready yet?"

"Four months…" Raven said softly. She looked up. "You're really here… I'm really here… right?"

"That's right, Rae." Beast Boy grinned forcibly.

"Don't call me Rae."

Beast Boy felt his grin become completely genuine. "You know you love it."

"…Maybe… I…" She flinched. She looked around at the two boys. "Is Robin coming?"

"No." Said a familiar voice.

The three ex-titans looked around to see a boy leaning against the wall.

His uniform was black, with a blue bird against his chest. A domino mask covered his eye, with black hair falling around his face.

"Rob?" Beast Boy blinked.

The boy gave a forced smile. He hadn't truly smiled in four months. "Used to be." He admitted calmly. "Not any more."

"…You're not a villain now, are you?" Beast Boy asked with alarm.

"What? _No!_ Still a hero." He promised. "Just… not Robin any more."

"Then who are you?" Raven asked, trying to stay in reality. "Are you here?"

"Yes, I'm here." The boy nodded. "I changed my name. Now, I'm… _N__'yte'wngr_." The Tamaranean word slipped out.

"Nightwing?" Beast Boy repeated, trying the name out.

Nightwing nodded, the corners of his lips turning up in what was almost a smile. "That's right."

* * *

**Not my best work, but… meh *shrugs*. It's not that bad. **

**So, review!**


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